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Adolf Hitler becomes chancellor of Germany and later assumes dictatorial powers. German rearmament takes off. -
Germany invades Poland, inciting Poland’s allies Britain and France to declare war on Germany. -
September 1, 1939
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Working in concert with Hitler, Stalin orders the invasion of Poland, securing a share of Polish territory. -
Warsaw surrenders to German troops. Poland holds out for another 9 days before capitulating. -
British cruisers defeat a German pocket battleship at the Battle of the River Plate, the first major naval engagement of World War II. -
Paris falls to German forces. France capitulates 11 days later. -
22 June 1941
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Japan attacks Pearl Harbor, starting war with the US, Hitler declares war on America 4 days later. -
June 6, 1944
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Soviet forces, with support from American and British aircraft, launch an offensive against the German capital of Berlin in one of World War II's final major battles. Hilter commits suicide April 30 in the Führerbunker and Germany surrenders a few days later, essentially ending the war. -
In the final days of World War II, he was summarily executed by an Italian partisan in a small village in northern Italy. -
World War II's final major battle and one of the war's bloodiest, U.S. Army and Marine forces invade Okinawa. Overpowered by the Americans, many surviving Japanese kill themselves rather than surrender.